


like an amazing grace

by orphan_account



Category: Battle Hall Davies Series - Sara Ryan
Genre: F/F, Family, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-31 21:10:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6487516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I wasn't too fond of how things were between Battle and Nicola in the second book, so I decided to write my own happy ending for them. Shameless fluff!</p>
            </blockquote>





	like an amazing grace

The story started the same way every time.

"Battle was my first love, you know." Nic would say, a faraway look in her eyes. "We met when we were 16 and we barely spent two months together, but I never fell in love that quickly or that hard again."

Nic would look at them again before leaning in, conspiratorial: "I'd never even kissed anyone before her! She was my first love, my first kiss, my first everything."

The roles in their little play were firmly established after years of repeating the same script, so Mary didn't hesitate in asking: "If you were so perfect, why did you break up?"

She had asked that same question for almost a decade now. First as a curious child, then as a moody teenager, sneering at the idea of romance, and again as a young woman who knew the answer by heart but was fond of their little ritual.

Nic's answer was always the same: "We weren't ready. We were so young and not just in age, we didn't know how the world really worked, back then. We had to break up so we could grow up and learn. About ourselves, about the people who surrounded us, about the things we'd need to know in the future."

This time it was Beth who chimed in: "But couldn't you have grown up together?"

"Maybe - Nic allowed, before shaking her head - but we had to part ways after that summer and both of us sucked at keeping in contact. We'd have hurt each other worse if we hadn't gone for a clean break."

There was a short pause, to allow the words to sink in. Then Mary prompted: "But you met again."

"We did." confirmed Nic with a smile.

"It was fate. You were destined to be together." Beth declared, as sure of it as she'd been the first time she proclaimed it.

"I like the idea of destiny making us meet again. I mean, it's not like we weren't keeping an eye on each other. I knew when she quit her ballet school to start working at kindergarten. And she sent me a card when I started working with the college, here in town. When we did meet, we were both in committed relationships. I was with Monika at the time and she was with Alphonse."

The girls listened in rapt silence, waiting for her to go on.

"We became friends first, you know. We weren't about to cheat on our partners and anyway we were both happy with our relationships. Or so we thought. Things between Battle and Alphonse had been shaky and he felt threatened when Battle and I started spending time together. He broke up with her and I broke up with Monika and..."

"And you and Battle fell in love?" asked Beth.

"It took time, we had to heal our wounds first. Battle and I were reticent to start a new relationship too soon. It took us almost a year before we were both ready to admit we were still attracted to each other. But, I mean. I'd seen Battle at her best _and_ at her worst. I met her when her hair was so long she had to scoop it up before sitting down. I was the one that helped her chop it all of, too. I saw her crying and angry and heartbroken and in all that I still thought 'She's my person. She's the one I want to be by my side until I grow old. I want to be there for her and I want to be able to lean on her when I need support'. So, yeah, I was pretty gone by that point."

"And then we pulled our heads out of our asses and we lived happily ever after, the end." Battle declared, poking her head out of the door frame.

"Mom!" Beth exclaimed, running to kiss her cheek.

"That's not how the story goes." grumbled good-heartedly Mary.

"Nope, but it's time for dinner and I'm starving. Can we eat, please?" Battle asked, pouting.

"Girls, will you please set the table?" Nic asked, standing up from the couch.

"I'll set the table if you do the dishes." Beth declared. Mary disagreed.

"You set the table _and_ you do the dishes, I'll dry them." she protested, running into the kitchen after her sister to start yet another round of 'Who's gonna do this boring house task I don't like? Not me!'.

"Just don't kill each other." mumbled Nic, rubbing her forehead.

"Headache?" asked Battle, pressing her lips to her temple.

"Not really, just tired. How was your day?" she asked, wrapping an arm around Battle.

"Nic, you won't believe what little Timmy Mason did today!" and she was off, sharing with Nic the delightful story of her favorite pupil and his neverending love for eating glue.

Nic smiled, pressing her lips together to contain her smile. They'd taken some time to get here, and yet here they were, so many years after their first fateful meeting. Together again. Maybe Beth was right, they really were destined for each other.


End file.
